Canadian Politics

Former Liberal MP Raj Grewal must divulge to the federal ethics commissioner – and the public – who lent him millions of dollars to feed a rampant gambling habit, opposition critics said Tuesday.

Those kind of huge debts raise a “massive, massive red flag” for an elected official, said New Democrat Charlie Angus, the party’s ethics point person. Suggesting the matter is closed because the money has been repaid is not good enough, both he and Conservative ethics critic Peter Kent argued.

“Suddenly he says ‘The money’s all paid off, I’m golden, I’m ready to go back to work.’ How does that happen?” Angus said in an interview. “We need to know: Did he borrow all this money from a rich uncle, or were there strings attached? Because that could seriously undermine his work as a parliamentarian.”

Kent said Grewal must “absolutely” reveal details of the payments he received.

“If he is in fact innocent of everything, as he claims, and if in fact the money was borrowed only from relatives and has been repaid legitimately – not from questionable sources – then I think these questions need to be asked and answered,” he said.

A spokesman for Grewal said late Tuesday that the MP is involved in a “full financial review” with the ethics commissioner, but did not elaborate on what that meant.

In a confessional video and statement last week, the member for Brampton East admitted that he had racked up “millions” of dollars in debts playing high-stakes blackjack.

He said he borrowed the money from friends and family, “everybody has been paid back,” all the transactions were transparent and traceable, and there was no “sinister” activity.

But Grewal said nothing more about who, exactly, provided him with such large loans, what reasons he gave them initially for needing the money or how he promised to repay them.

Asked earlier this week to reveal the sources of the payments, Grewal spokesman Joel Etienne told the National Post that “this is a private and personal family financial matter now.”

“Mr. Grewal informs that it is common in the Punjabi culture to lend/borrow money from friends and family when in need,” said Etienne by email. “Mr. Grewal’s relatives bailed him out and everyone has been repaid.”

Although the MP initially announced he would resign his seat, he said Friday he is leaving the Liberal caucus but reconsidering whether to actually quit the Commons.

I think these questions need to be asked and answered

All members are required under the House’s conflict of interest code to divulge their assets, liabilities and sources of income and any change in that information within 60 days, said Jocelyne Brisebois, a spokesman for the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

But she said she cannot indicate if Grewal has done so recently. And despite the code’s requirements, there is no penalty for members who fail to disclose financial data to the commissioner, said Brisebois.

Although the RCMP will not confirm the existence of ongoing investigations, sources and various other media reports suggest that the force is looking into Grewal’s financial activities.

Meanwhile, the opposition critics say they remain concerned about a land transaction in Brampton, Ont., that, sources say, the city council referred to the RCMP last week during a special, in-camera session.

Brampton had been in talks with the Ontario government to buy a piece of property needed to carry out a bridge project, offering $3.3 million. With the province wanting more, their negotiations broke down and a private company – Goreway Heaven Inc. – bought the parcel for the same or slightly more money last year, then later sold it to the city for $4.4 million.

In the interim, Grewal and fellow Brampton MP Navdeep Bains – the economic development minister – were sent city reports that contained how much the municipality had offered the province for the land.

Both MPs strenuously deny they provided the price information to Goreway Heaven, one of whose directors is a Liberal activist who took part in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s trip to India this year. The company has also denied being leaked the price.

Bains’ representatives have argued that many others were likely given the same report and been privy to the information.

“Let me be clear: any insinuation or allegation of wrongdoing on my part is false and baseless,” Bains said in a Facebook post Sunday.

Both opposition critics said the situation raises serious questions and urged the city of Brampton to clarify exactly what it asked the police to review.

“We don’t know that anything untoward was done, but if his (Bains’) name was forwarded to the RCMP, that should be clarified,” said Angus.

A spokesman for the RCMP said Tuesday, “At this time, the RCMP cannot provide comments on this matter.”